This Past Week

These autumn days seem to be zipping by faster than I realize – especially when I come to post my week in review and realize I didn’t have a chance to blog about anything else this week.

In the kitchen: I’m trying to perfect my own chai recipe. It’s not there yet. I’ll share when I’m happy with it. Until then, I’ll happily drink my experiments.

My herbs are growing nicely – for indoors anyway. They are not as robust as I’d like them to be but I have a feeling that has to do with the lack of sunlight. I don’t really have a better spot for them other than the bay window…so there they attempt to grow.

Reading: We are currently reading My Warrior Saints. The boys are enjoying the stories. Each saint’s story is approximately 3-5 (lengthy) pages. It’s not really a little, little kids’ book. I’m not sure if Justin is being antsy through the stories because it’s a slightly beyond his attention span yet or it’s a Justin thing. The stories are about soldiers who had to choose between right and wrong, Christ and idolatry, and protecting people. There is also an audio book included with the story and you can also purchase the activity book that goes along with it.

Gabriel: He’s rolling over often now. He also LOVES to stand. He’s been doing that for weeks now. We’ve begun guessing amongst our family when he’s going to start walking. I have no doubt it will be sooner rather than later.

Soothing: We’ve gotten back into our sensory therapy once again. Unfortunately, mommy took a longer break from it than she intended or wanted while being pregnant and then with a new baby. All three of the big boys have Sensory Processing Disorder – which is to say their brains do not process sensations like you and me. One example out of many: for the longest time Niki and I thought one of the boys was just being overly dramatic. He would scream in absolute pain and anger if we literally just barely brushed up against his skin. He was registering that brush up as extreme pain which we had a hard time understanding. Via instruction from a therapist, I implemented this sensory therapy a couple of years ago. Basically we rub different textures on their face, arms, back, and legs. I switch up the textures but I always end with rubbing lotion on their arms and legs for two reasons: 1) it’s a soothing sensation (now) 2) it’s skin to skin contact between me and them which is something they long for but don’t quite feel comfortable initiating on their own (as in holding hands, hug, kiss on the cheek, snuggling on the couch).

I hunt for new textures when I go to the store

Over the weekend, we had family movie night for daddy’s birthday. After finishing The Hobbit, I was worn out from a long day and told the boys to get ready for bed. One of the boys literally got down on his knees begging me to do sensory therapy and say prayers with them. Yet again, my kids humble and teach me. How could I say no? (Besides feeling guilty for being lazy.)

Nativity Fast: We started including frankincense during our bedtime prayers

Creating: Chris helped me teach Zach and Justin how to make para cord survival bracelets. Chris is really enjoying working with his hands. It’s the most interest he’s shown in ANYTHING since I’ve gotten him. Finally! Something! Lots of art time lately.

We also made origami frogs. This was a great activity for following directions and a math lesson!

Birthday: We had Les’ birthday over the weekend. We made homemade gifts for him this year. Zach N. helped the boys paint a Hot Wheels city on the back of a tshirt for Les. It was still drying when Zach N. had to leave but the next day the boys drove their cars along the roads and gave daddy a back massage.

We also put together a frame of all the first photos of Les with each of us. Aside from Gabriel, none of the photos are the first day Les saw us but it is the first photo I have of just Les with each of us.

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4 Comments

I was just reading the part about Les’ birthday and Zach called. 🙂 The bracelets turned out great and I love the photos. Is the sensory therapy you do similar to Wilbarger Protocol? We used to brush Tyler every 2-3 hours with a surgeon’s brush. It was very effective for him. Squishing him between two couch cushions on the floor was a huge favorite of his too as part of his daily sensory diet. Here’s a link to some Wilbarger Protocol info. and Oral Tactile Technique that you might find useful – http://www.nationalautismresources.com/wilbarger-protocol.html.

Jenny
on November 20, 2013 at 12:42 am

The therapist never gave it a name so I’m not sure but I will definitely take a look at the link. Thanks!!

Basil and cilantro? I wish I had a sunny spot to grow herbs indoors. We’ve tried. Someone suggested a fluorescent growing lamp to me.

We started burning incense this past year, too. It really makes me think of church and it helps me to pray!

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Foundations:

The big boys have daily work that is not reflected in my weekly homeschool posts. Their foundational work has changed over the years in relation to where they are developmentally. Currently, the big boys do the following in the morning before their daily themed work after lunch:
Silent reading, Math (Aleks), Writing Skills, and Lumosity (neuroplasticity) - and audiobooks in the evenings